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No. 6 Wake Forest snaps Cougars' streak

oh snap | 8:45 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

whoops, the streak is gone. i guess you played real great teams there at the mc before that.

Ralph | 8:48 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Has a BYU men's basketball team ever beaten a top 25 non-conference team? If so, when and whom? Who was the coach?

Big Fan | 8:51 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Tough physical game. Cougars can't make clutch free throws or threes.

Wasted opportunity.

49 fouls called ruined the game.

Comments continue below

Stutah | 8:55 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Great effort just poor execution at the end which is a growing trend against ranked teams. An ongoing problem is the poor shot selection by JT and Cummard. You would expect better decision making from these guys which cost them.

Koogs | 9:01 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Cummard shows he is not big time. On the other hand, the Jimmer did.

re: Ralph | 9:05 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Hmmm Ralph, not too educated on BYU's success are you. Nice try on the "ever" thrown into your trolling. Look at BYU beating #6 Louisville last year on a neutral court in Las Vegas.

Don't try and take away from a great year the Cougars are having by being a cynical troll. Two tough losses to 2 top-20 programs! GO COUGARS!!!!

ert | 9:08 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

While the players did a great job and the fans attended in mass (one of whom who threw something on the floor should not only have stayed at home, he/she should be spending in the night in Provo jail), you could see this outcome a few games ago.

Ill advised shot selection, poor clock management, etc. Hopefully, the team will take something from this and the ASU loss and improve.

Mirror Images | 9:26 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Your basketball team looks like your football team. Any time the cougars play a quick, athletic team, they lose. 0-2 verses good teams in hoops and 0-3 in football. Time for all cougar teams to start running wind sprints and looking for stronger, athletic teams.

Why so negative | 9:26 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Wow, the comments on here are so negative. BYU is doing a great job this year. Stop begin so critical, and enjoy the game for what it is, a game. These are young men doing their best. And to the trolls, go find your own team to support.

why so negative? | 9:35 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

you reap what you sow. learn how to close out games.

Classless | 9:41 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Throwing a water bottle on the court during the game? You Kittens are an embarrassment to the MWC. Way to show an ACC team that traveled to your school the type of fans that you are. I'm sure more big time programs are just lining up to play you. Absolutely embarrassing for your school.

Weak pre-conference | 9:45 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

schedule will catch up with the Cougs in end. Coach needs to schedule tougher teams before conference play. Your only as good as the opponents you play. BYU is a solid basketball team but will be lucky to finish 3rd in the conference. We are too slow just like our football team.

THE USUAL | 9:47 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

THERE IS NO TRY,

THERE IS ONLY DO.

Matt | 9:50 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

These posts are a bit critical. I've been watching BYU basketball since the 80s and this is a fun team to watch. I think that they have a better shot of going deeper into the NCAA tourney than most BYU teams in years past.

Silly comments by Mirror Images.

Too Bad | 9:54 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Would have been a great win for the MTN West, Wins against Louiville, Gonzaga and Wake would have capped a great week not to mention The Utes last night. Get em next time GO Mountain West

Orem Guy | 9:55 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Hi Mirror Images: Are you a Utah fan? Sincere congratulations on a great Sugar Bowl. You guys did the MWC and the state of Utah proud.

Come back and comment on basketball athleticism after we play a couple games this year.

reality | 9:58 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Snapped!
per Bishop Wrubel, BYU jobbed by rotten foul calls.

Actually, When 1 team is jacking up off the mark 3's and the other team is attacking the basket being defended by 1-step-slow white guys who hack and reach instead of playing defense, its remarkable the foul differential was not greater.
Does not take much defensive effort to defend 25-30 foot 3-point jacks when you're not making them.

wind sprints | 9:59 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Great game, Cougs. No shame in this one. Wake is for real....anyone who was there to actually watch it would also say the same. Wake's coach after the game said the Cougs "could play with anyone, and I mean anyone in the ACC" this year and that he'll "never come back to the Marriott Center". So hey, "mirror images," bring your SPEEDY team (right) the the MC and watch us take you down like the other 53 in the past few years. The Cougs, player for player, have no business competing with teams like this, but as a team.....they've got a lot of heart and are fun to watch. Shut the trolls down, Cougs, by blasting their team when it's time (I'm pretty sure you'll know who they are).

....Please.... | 10:06 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Orem guy is on to you, troll.....Mirror Images, The Usual, Classless, etc.....probably the same tired yewt who spends more time on these boards then his/her own. Get a life.... Surprised you haven't brought up your amazing convincing win over powerful Gonzaga! Wow...THAT team sure did make you guys look great.....yikes.

Back to the Cougs - gotta keep after it and learn from the mistakes. Love that the top three guards -Emery, Abouo, and Jimmer are all Sophs and Freshmen - gonna keep getting better with great experience under the belts. GO COUGS!

Great time tonight | 10:10 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

in the Marriott Center. THe place was packed and rocking. THe Coug's played a very talented team to a standstill with less than two minutes to go, just didn't make the plays at the end.

I think BYU will be very tough to beat in conference. Go Coug's

albadous | 10:14 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Live by the 3 die by the 3. Any MWC team that watches this tape will take their chances by letting the Y chuck up 3's with reckless abandon. Come on Rose somebody on this team must have a post game or don't you practice anything but JT casting away from 30 feet.

Brent | 10:22 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

The refs jobbed us on this one. We outplayed them in every aspect. Pretty shameful that we were railed but it is obvious we will go very very deep in the tourney. Can any say final four? I can!

Anonymous | 10:24 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

"I think that they have a better shot of going deeper into the NCAA tourney than most BYU teams in years past."

When was the last time you won a NCAA tourney game. You've never been to the final four. Your basketball team is good at home as long as they play weaker competition. This conference is so poor compared to the good old WAC days. Win a meaningful game. Until then your just like the Aggies.

Mirror Images | 10:33 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

I am an upset BYU fan that is tired of playing second or third fiddle to anyone. I feel like we are simply acting like pretendors. It kills me to watch Utah pound their chests for anything they do. I feel we should dominate in football and basketball. We have had opportunities to show what we can do in football and FAILED. We have opportunities to show what we can do in hoops and FAILED. We have only played two good basketball teams and we simply show that we aren't as fast and strong as we think we are. All athletic teams take it to us.

Not a Utah fan. I'm a frustrated BYU fan.

haha.... | 10:39 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

The refs the refs the refs... How typical!

53 game win streak | 10:40 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

How many ranked teams did you beat during that streak just out of curiosity.... I know the tough ones were played on a nuetral court so they wouldnt count. Good job on the season, you are now 11-0 vs high school teams and 0-2 vs real teams.

Anonymous | 10:40 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

I apologize for my earlier comments. The Aggies beat Ohio State in 2001. They are not as feeble as the Cougars.

Quit thinking your a powerhouse in any sport until you prove it. Basically your a religious school with a decent cross country team.

Refs | 10:41 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Again with the refs, its always the refs. How about playing some stiffer competition so when the game is close in the final 5 minutes, you have some experience to fall back on. You don't learn how to play close games by beating lesser competition by 30 and 40 points. Maybe a few close games you had to sweat out, or even lose, might have come in handy in this game. But, you reap what you sow.

Re: 10:40 | 10:50 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

The fact that you're on this sight proves that you still have little brotheritis.

Re: 10:39 & 10:41 | 10:54 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

I thought the refs made the correct call at the end of the Utah vs Utah State game. They did an outstanding job. Hope I didn't open any old wounds.

OhioCougar | 10:57 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

First off-
yewts congrats on the Sugar Bowl, now go celebrate on your own post boards!!

Now--

It was a frustrating loss, but give it up for the boys, they played hard, didn't get any breaks, and still had a chance. I agree we need some type of inside game if we are going to go anywhere in the tourney. 11-2 is not bad, Wake is the real deal guys, so my fellow Coug Fans lift up your heads, no shame in this one.

Lastly-

Please no more negative posts about our football or basketball teams! 10-3 and 11-2 are very, very respectible records (just remember a few years back, we'd have killed for those records). So Cougar Nation take a few deep breaths and gear up for conference domination baby!
I'm Out
Go COUGS!!!

Re: oh snap | 10:58 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

I would say we played our share of good teams during the streak. Good thing we didn't play Southwest Baptist Tech or the streak might have ended sooner.

Cougs | 11:16 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

good game but once again (like many other games UNC, etc.) Tavernari quick shoots the Cougs out of it. He jacked up 5 bad shots in the final 3 minutes missing them all. On the 6th he got a weak putback. #45 needs to learn after missing twice in critical possessions to dish it---

Neutral fan | 11:28 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Anyone who watched the game knows this is a very good BYU team, even though they have struggled to finish off two games. But Wake hasn't played a team this good this year, to be tied at 85 with under two minutes to go to a team as good as Wake is pretty impressive. Utah fans can throw all the cheap shots they want, but what they should be doing is worrying, because the Utes wouldn't give Wake anywhere near that kind of battle. BYU is fun to watch and plays a very good brand of basketball. That was a great game by two very good teams. Even BYU fans shouldn't panic or get too critical just because they lost to a great team.

Laguna Niguel Ute | 11:25 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Good work against a great team. Sounds like your fans gave you great support based on what the competition reported after the game. I agree, it would have been great to see the MWC take down 3 very good teams this week. My only question is why the polls are so slow to get BYU ranked. To my Utah friends--please be careful with your comments. We will be playing the Y real soon.

Anonymous | 11:31 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

In '95 Weber beat Michigan State and in '99 they beat North Carolina.

Your team has no wins in that time.

You win no games of any consequence.

You are tied with Missouri for most tourney appearances without ever reaching the final four.
22 times you've gone and never made it to the final four. And only one sweet 16 appearance.

You never beat anybody in a meaningful game.

Orem Guy | 11:48 p.m. Jan. 3, 2009

Hey, sorry, Mirror Images. When you said "your basketball team" and "your football team", I assumed you were from another school. Most of us talk about "our" teams, win or lose.

I was at the game tonight, and the loss was not due to poor athleticism and lack of speed. Our guys played up-tempo basketaball even-up with WF until the last minute and a half or so.

The two main problems: both of our big men fouling out, and some bad decisions at the end of the game, chucking up off-balance 3-pointers instead of working for decent shots.

But our guys will learn from this. I think they'll do well in the MWC, probably beat Utah two or three times, and they are a heck of a lot of fun to watch, especially for those of us who remember the Reid-Cleveland years.

I'm a big BYU fan, but really don't care much whether they get deep into the tournament, or whatever. Basketball is entertainment, not life-and-death, and they were very entertaining tonight while throwing a big scare into a very good team.

Captain Cool | 12:05 a.m. Jan. 4, 2009

At least BYU lost to a top 10 team, and not Southwest Baptist like Utah did.

Aggie Fan | 12:22 a.m. Jan. 4, 2009

Great game Cougs, I am a believer and actually think BYU belongs in the top 20 real soon. Wake is not push over and you gave them all they could handle. Any Ute or Aggies on here hating need to make an educated basketball assessment and that would be that the Y is the best in hoops this year.

nice game Cougars!

reality | 7:34 a.m. Jan. 4, 2009

BYU got bailed out by the refs, not jobbed.

It's rare to get fouled when jacking up 3's (ala BYU).

It's common to get fouled when driving the lane and pounding the ball inside (ala Wake).

Play this game on a neutral court without the BYU crowd booing every single foul call in the game and Wake wins going away 20+ points.

Anonymous | 2:15 p.m. Jan. 4, 2009

Great game cougs.....126-11 at home going back 9 seasons. And yes, we have won ranked non-conference teams. Louisville and Oklahoma St. mean anything to you? And as for Mirror Image, stating we had opportunities to show the Utes who's boss in football and basketball, you must have short term memory loss or something, to forget the cougs went undefeated in football 2 of the past 3 years, including two big wins over Utah. Add that to the 4-0 record against the Utes on the hardwood these past 2 years, and I'd say the cougs have shown the utes who's boss. There are ups and downs in every sport, and anyone can beat anyone at any time. But consistency is key, and the cougs have consistantly outperofrmed the Utes over the past three years. With regards to the cougs being an embarrassment for throwing a water bottle, I guess it was kindof like the Ute embarrassment during the Oklahoma game. Except for that one, there was a national audience and it was a player making to error, not a fan. Keep that in mind next time before you call the cougs an embarrassment while the Utes have "class".

Double Dribbler | 10:44 a.m. Jan. 5, 2009

Great game. Wake proved it is a little smoother and athletic. The best team won. BYU has nothing to hang their heads about. Wakes coach told his team they'd won a great game against a great team. Personally I think the team would be better off without Tavernari having a green light every time he gets the ball. He's fun to watch and can get hot, but he just keeps heaving threes even if he's cold. This team misses Plaisted, but I think they'll be better than last years team.

Bottom line.. | 12:44 p.m. Jan. 5, 2009

Cougars are a great team this year. They were a great team last year as-well. BUT this team on sat. night needed a major big man presence down low. Every-one knows that teams double down on Plaisted which would leave our outside shooters more open. WE needed that. & WE needed Plaisted to score down low when it counted. VERY FEW BIG TIME GAMES PLAISTED has not shown up. BUT almost all of the BIG TIMES GAMES plaisted has been there. That team needs Plaisted. Everyone can bag this guy all they want..but deep down inside they know they NEED PLAISTED.

Look at the results | 12:47 p.m. Jan. 5, 2009

We have played 13 games and have lost to 2 top 20 programs in games that were close. ASU a disallowed basket makes a one point loss. Wake got to our big guys early and often and in the end the fact that WF got numerous offensive rebounds was the key in getting to the line or the extra shots. I think BYU lost the legs in the later part of the game and thats why the shots wouldn't fall. I'm excited to watch this team play, they have so much ability to run pass and shoot they could do things we haven't seen since Danny was here. BTW to that one person asking when we went to the Final 4, we haven't, but when was the last time any school from Utah was in the final 4? Oh, 1998? 11 years ago? Yeah time flies, quit referencing stuff that happened last century.

For all the posters here saying we haven't played anyone this year. Look at nearly all schools this time of year, how many do you see playing headline games unless they have already started league play.

Sheriff Polynice | 2:28 p.m. Jan. 5, 2009

A 53 game home winning streak is impressive no matter which conference it's from. Cougs still had to play the U, UNLV and UNM each year in our place, and we've beaten them.

As far as the Wake game goes. Great effort for 38 minutes. Too many poor shots at the end and the clear lack of an inside presence on offense hurt us. 8 blocks vs 0...that says something. No shame at all in losing to Wake and ASU. This team looks good.

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